Frugal Things I Did Last Month

I never realize how many frugal things I do in a given month until I sit down and write them all out. I’m always on the hunt for new ways to save my family some money, whether it’s stacking rewards and coupons or tailoring dinner recipes based on what I have around the house.

Here are some frugal things I did this month:

We went to see Deadpool on “Stimulus Tuesday” at the movie theatre Carmike Cinemas has a deal called Stimulus Tuesday where you can get drinks, popcorn, and candy for $2 each. Carmike also have a rewards card, and every dollar goes towards points that you can redeem for later. During this trip we ended up being able to get our drink and popcorn free, because of the rewards. For two (not matinee) tickets, two boxes of candy, a large drink, and a bucket refill of popcorn we only paid $23!

We bought a more fuel efficient car It was time for a “new” car, and after searching around we found a deal on a 2013 Honda Civic. The BF’s car was getting horrible gas mileage and was falling apart. At a minimum, he would be driving 20+ miles to work every day, so getting 16-19 mpg was costing us more money in gas than we would like. It seemed unnecessary for both of us to have big cars, so we chose a smaller one for him. We were able to pay for more than half of the down-payment in cash since we had been saving for this expense for a while now. The car was in great condition with low mileage, so we won’t have to worry about another car for either of us for a long time.

We packed our lunches For the past 9 months, the BF had been eating out for lunch every day at work. Finally, we decided we could save more money and give him a healthier option by packing lunch instead. I’m able to add all the things I need to pack his lunch without making a huge impact on our current grocery budget.

I stacked rewards and coupons to save money on our Easter outfits Unexpectedly, we realized we had nothing to wear for Easter brunch. I personally love shopping at Kohl’s for my clothes, because I can use the Kohl’s cash from my purchase to put toward his. I was able to find a $10 off coupon and 20% off coupon to use toward my online purchase, and we used my Kohl’s cash and another 20% off coupon toward his.

I spent more time working on cash back sites This month I focused on two cash back sites, Swagbucks and Receipt Hog. Just this month alone, I have earned 1,000 Swagbucks ($10 equivalent) just by using their shop and earn program, and by entering in promo codes from their Facebook page. I can use that money to save toward cash or redeem it now for a $10 Amazon gift card. It takes more Swagbucks to be able to redeem for cash than gift cards. I started using Receipt Hog this month, and I’m already well on my way to earning either an Amazon gift card or cash.

What frugal things did you do last month? Share your frugal tips and experiences. What worked and what didn’t?